Ol' Slapperman
Farmers Brewing Company

my first from these guys, a cool bring by a coworker to the holiday bottle share, impressive top to bottom. i like the packaging, cork and cage, sort of classic look. i really like the base beer, smart. its an imperial pale lager, stronger than it drinks for one, but a nice hearty crisp lager is the perfect foundation for the real cucumbers, dill, and coriander that this is brewed with. a lighter lager might get overwhelmed, a heavier or more interesting beer might obscure the stuff we all want to taste, so this is a really good call. its also a really good lager, i dont taste much yeast from it, but its really well refined, golden colored, high headed, and it seems bottle conditioned, frothy and even creamy feeling, snappy crisp and dry, very well proportioned, pils-esque on the grain side, expertly refined and balanced. its cool they grow the cucumbers and the dill and the coriander at the brewery, adds a neat estate element to this. it smells like waxy green outsides of cucumbers, like hotel lobby water, with honest real fresh dill right behind that, yellow flowers and all, and the coriander somewhat subtle, which i like. the flavor is just like the nose, the garden stuff is incredibly forward and authentic, lightly bitter too, but not really vegetal in that way, the lager underneath is perfect, frothy and vibrant and fresh, so much cucumber on the finish, its quite remarkable really! i love the mouthfeel, but i also like that this isnt brined or tart or anything, lots of pickle sours and such, but this works better as a strong lager, way better, super impressive. this is good enough to make me very thirsty for more from these guys, inventive, thoughtful, and extremely well executed overall. great choice for a base beer for these ingredients. maybe the best pickle beer ive ever had...